Spatial variations and determinants of infant and under-five mortality in Bangladesh

Reducing child mortality is a Sustainable Development Goal yet to be achieved by many low-income countries. We applied a subnational and spatial approach based on publicly available datasets and identified permanent insolvency, urbanicity, and malaria endemicity as factors associated with child mortality. We further detected spatial clusters in the east of Bangladesh and noted Sylhet and Jamalpur as those districts that need immediate attention to reduce child mortality. Our approach is transferable to other regions in comparable settings worldwide and may guide future studies to identify subnational regions in need for public health attention. Our study adds to our understanding where we may intervene to more effectively improve health, particularly among disadvantaged populations.     

Infant and under-five mortality in Afghanistan: current estimates and limitations

Objective

To examine historical estimates of infant and under-five mortality in Afghanistan, provide estimates for rural areas from current population-based data, and discuss the methodological challenges that undermine data quality and hinder retrospective estimations of mortality.

Methods

Indirect methods of estimation were used to calculate infant and under-five mortality from a household survey conducted in 2006. Sex-specific differences in underreporting of births and deaths were examined and sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the effect of underreporting on infant and under-five mortality.

Findings

For 2004, rural unadjusted infant and under-five mortality rates were estimated to be 129 and 191 deaths per 1000 live births, respectively, with some evidence indicating underreporting of female deaths. If adjustment for underreporting is made (i.e. by assuming 50% of the unreported girls are dead), mortality estimates go up to 140 and 209, respectively.

Conclusion

Commonly used estimates of infant and under-five mortality in Afghanistan are outdated; they do not reflect changes that have occurred in the past 15 years or recent intensive investments in health services development, such as the implementation of the Basic Package of Health Services. The sociocultural aspects of mortality and their effect on the reporting of births and deaths in Afghanistan need to be investigated further.     

Achieving the Cairo Conference (ICPD) goal for youth in Bangladesh

Sexual and reproductive health education is not yet formally introduced in Bangladesh without which the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo's goal to ensure young people's right to access to such information and services will remain unfulfilled. The Population Council provided technical assistance to a governmental department to pilot youth reproductive health education. Study findings from the pre- and posttests of 379 matched respondents revealed significant changes in knowledge, attitudes, and life-skills. Knowledge about long-term contraceptives and skills on negotiating safe sex improved significantly by 63% and 26%, respectively. Youths who do not consider menstruation as a disease nearly doubled, and misunderstandings about the mother's role in sex determination of a child were significantly dispelled. Decisions not to accompany friends in visiting sex workers and to use condoms, ignoring friends' disapproval, were increased over 18%. Over 98% of students reported that teachers discussed condoms, while only 12% alleged unfriendly behavior. Findings motivated the department to scale up the reproductive health curriculum.     

Reducing maternal mortality: a review of progress and evidence-based strategies to achieve millennium development goal 5

Maternal mortality represents a major global health challenge. Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5) set a range of targets pertaining to maternal mortality and universal access to reproductive health care. While the realization of these targets seems unlikely, cost-effective population-level approaches in combination with evidence-based interventions targeting the acute management of the major causes of maternal mortality present the potential for considerable progress as the 2015 deadline approaches.     

Accelerating progress in achieving the millennium development goal for children through community-based approaches

Abstract

The Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG4) calls for the reduction in under-five mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. Only 16 of the 68 countries with 97% of the world's child deaths are on track to achieve this. This paper reviews the current evidence regarding proven interventions for reducing child mortality in high-mortality, resource-poor settings. All of these interventions require implementation within communities rather than implementation confined to only those attending health facilities with strong community participation in order to be effective. The evidence strongly suggests that facility-based interventions require a strong community-based component in order to improve child mortality in the surrounding population. We provide specific information about common community-based approaches used in the implementation of interventions with documented improvements in child mortality. A stronger emphasis on community-based approaches will be needed in order to accelerate progress in reaching MDG4. This report arises from an ongoing review of assessments of the effectiveness of community-based primary health care (CBPHC) in improving child health sponsored by the Working Group on CBPHC of the American Public Health Association.     

Tracking the HIV epidemic: current issues, future challenges

The emergence of a new infectious disease, AIDS, in the early 1980s resulted in the development of a national AIDS surveillance system. AIDS surveillance data provided an understanding of transmission risks and characterized communities affected by the epidemic. Later, these data provided the basis for allocating resources for prevention and treatment programs. New treatments have dramatically improved survival. Resulting declines in AIDS incidence and deaths offer hope that HIV disease can be successfully managed. However, to prevent and control HIV/AIDS in the coming decades, the public health community must address new challenges. These include the defining of the role of treatment in reducing infectiousness; the potential for an epidemic of treatment-resistant HIV; side effects of treatment; complacency that leads to relapses to high-risk behaviors; and inadequate surveillance and research capacity at state and local levels to guide the development of health interventions. Meeting these challenges will require reinvesting in the public health capacity of state and local health departments, restructuring HIV/AIDS surveillance programs to collect the data needed to guide the response to the epidemic, and providing timely answers to emerging epidemiologic questions.     

Hepatitis B infection in Vietnam: current issues and future challenges

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a major public health problem in Vietnam. Recent studies have found that prevalence of current HBV infection (HBsAg+) ranges from 10% to 20% in the general population and 20% to 40% among injecting drug users and HIV+ patients. However, HBV prevention and control in Vietnam relies heavily on universal infant vaccination program and HBsAg screening for blood donors. Currently, HBV prevention and control is underfunded by the government and receives little support from international agencies. HBV-related liver disease will continue to create a heavy burden for public health in Vietnam in the next several decades unless appropriate interventions are undertaken urgently. Establishment of a national strategy for HBV prevention and control is crucial to develop and implement effective interventions.     

Aedes albopictus in the United States: current status and prospects for further spread.

Since its initial discovery in the continental USA in 1985, the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, has spread rapidly throughout the eastern part of the country. Infestations of Ae. albopictus now have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 919 counties in 26 states in the continental USA. This species is believed to be established in 911 counties in 25 states. Single individuals or small numbers of Ae. albopictus have been intercepted and destroyed in 3 additional states (California, New Mexico, and Washington). Five states (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee) have reported infestations in all of their counties. The current reported distribution of Ae. albopictus was compared to ecoregions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Level III ecoregion map. Several areas are identified as probable candidates for extension of this species based on ecological characteristics of the landscape. In other areas, populations seem likely to become locally abundant in urban or suburban oases that do not reflect the native ecology of the region. The ability of Ae. albopictus to transmit a variety of pathogens of human and veterinary public health importance, coupled with its ability to colonize diverse ecological settings makes continued surveillance an important issue.     

Progress towards the child mortality millennium development goal in urban sub-Saharan Africa: the dynamics of population growth,immunization, and access to clean water

Background  

Improvements in child survival have been very poor in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Since the 1990s, declines in child mortality have reversed in many countries in the region, while in others, they have either slowed or stalled, making it improbable that the target of reducing child mortality by two thirds by 2015 will be reached. This paper highlights the implications of urban population growth and access to health and social services on progress in achieving MDG 4. Specifically, it examines trends in childhood mortality in SSA in relation to urban population growth, vaccination coverage and access to safe drinking water.     

Health system in India: opportunities and challenges for improvements

PURPOSE: The paper seeks to show that health and socio-economic developments are so closely intertwined that is impossible to achieve one without the other. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: This paper sees that building health systems that are responsive to community needs, particularly for the poor, requires politically difficult and administratively demanding choices. Health is a priority goal in its own right, as well as a central input into economic development and poverty reduction. FINDINGS: The paper finds that, while the economic development in India has been gaining momentum over the last decade, the health system is at a crossroads today. Even though Government initiatives in public health have recorded some noteworthy successes over time, the Indian health system is ranked 118 among 191 WHO member countries on overall health performance. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This working paper describes the status of the health system, discusses critical areas of management concerns, suggests a few health sector reform measures, and concludes by identifying the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders for building health systems that are responsive to the community needs, particularly for the poor.     

Intrajejunal feeding: development and current status

Techniques of jejunostomy were established in surgical practice by the turn of the century. They were mainly used to administer normal food for the palliation of advanced gastric cancer. Standard postoperative intravenous fluid therapy did not begin in earnest until the late 1930's and did not become routine until the late 1940's because of pyrogens, fear of fluid overload, and commercial nonavailability. For most gastric procedures performed from 1900 until 1940, postoperative treatment consisted of nutrient and saline enemas and subcutaneous infusion of fluid. Jejunal feedings had their greatest use between 1930 and 1950. Gastrectomy was widely applied for cancer and ulcers in dehydrated, malnourished patients. The importance of hypoproteinemia and malnutrition on postoperative morbidity and mortality was established, and the inability of subcutaneous infusions and nutrient enemas to counteract malnutrition and dehydration was recognized. Jejunostomy or nasojejunal tubes were recommended for routine use after gastric operations. During this period, the major advances in jejunal diets and methods of feeding were accomplished. Attention was paid to assuring adequate amounts of nutrients, minerals, and vitamins, and finding diets that were easily tolerated by the jejunum. Important in these developments was the collaboration of surgeons with physiologists, gastroenterologists, pharmacologists, and members of industry. Several factors combined to reduce the use of jejunostomy after 1950. Intravenous therapy became familiar to the surgical profession, widely available, and safe. The number of gastric resections performed has decreased. Earlier referral for operation has resulted in patients with less preoperative debility and malnutrition. By 1970, total parenteral nutrition was available, and fewer jejunostomies were perceived as necessary. During the same interval, however, the increasing incidence of patients with pancreatic, esophageal, and hepatobiliary disease who faced major operations and catabolic postoperative courses presented a new challenge to the surgical community. A resurgence of concern for nutritional support, in part generated by the availability of total parenteral nutrition, prompted a renewed interest in using the gut for feeding the postoperative patient. This renewed interest, an understanding of the techniques of parenteral nutrition, the rediscovery of the gut as an absorptive surface in the postoperative patient, and the ready availability of a variety of defined formula diets have combined to rekindle the enthusiasm of many surgeons for complementary or adjuvant feeding jejunostomy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Health promotion indicators: current status, issues and problems

This article describes the background to the current statusof health promotion indicator research and defines the majorissues and problems involved. It then discusses both of theseareas in detail. Problems in health promotion indicators fallunder three major headings: methodologies, concepts and theories,and purpose and applications. Two other kinds of problems arediscovered under these headings. Problems of methodology includedjfficulties in measurement and data analysis. The issues inconcepts and theories of indicators include defining the fieldand defining the theory, while issues in purposes and applicationsinvolve the use of indicators in the fields of research andpolicy. The authors conclude that the emerging paradigm of healthpromotion has a wider perspective than the paradigm of diseaseprevention, medical care and medical treatment.     

Population challenges for Bangladesh in the coming decades

Bangladesh currently has a population approaching 150 million and will add another 100 million before stabilizing, unless fertility can soon drop below replacement level. This level of fertility decline will require a change in marriage patterns, which have been minimal so far, even with increasing female schooling. It would also benefit from a long-awaited shift to long-term contraception. In addition to the consequence of huge population size, the density of population is already five times that of any other 'mega' country (> 100 million), a very challenging situation for an agricultural society. Most of the future growth will be urban, increasingly in slums. Numbers of young people will not increase, but numbers of older people will increase 10-fold this century, creating a large burden on the health system, especially for chronic illnesses. High density of population means that agricultural land is virtually saturated, with very limited capacity to expand food production. Climate change may have dramatic impacts on agriculture, through flooding and drought resulting from weather changes and geopolitical influences on transborder rivers. Rising sea-levels and consequent salinity will affect crops and require shifts to alternative land use. Serious long-term planning is needed for meeting the growing needs of the population, both for distribution and consumption.